Monday, May 12, 2008

I've had it with the RCMP. When they're not fabricating lies, then they're censoring important Access to Information requests data:

The RCMP released an incident report about Robert Dziekanski who died at Vancouver International Airport last October, but much of the information routinely released in other cases was censored.

The name and rank of the officer who fired the Taser weapon, his supervisor's name, details about the duration of the firing and the number of times the weapon was used in stun mode were omitted from the report obtained under the Access to Information Act by CBC News and the Canadian Press. [...]

A written summary of the incident was blanked out along with assessments as to whether use of the Taser helped the RCMP either "avoid use of lethal force" or "avoid injuries to subject or police."

A passage about whether Dziekanski was armed or not has also been excised. One witness said he was waving a stapler at police.

Well, lying by omission is still lying! And their reasoning for not releasing this information is just as crooked:

In a letter accompanying the report, the RCMP said it invoked exemptions under the Access to Information Act to protect the privacy of the person stunned [...].

2 comments:

There was some good news concerning the company that makes Tasers. Shares in Taser Inc. have plummeted from $19 to only $7 a share as a result of the Dziekanski killing. This is great news because as soon as this company goes bankrupt it will be difficult for them to continue lobbying for their terrible 'product' - we may even see tasers completely abandoned by police forces!

Recent repots suggest RCMP commanders are attempting to pervert the course of justice by preventing manslaughter charges being lodged against the four constables involved in the Dziekanski killing. If this matter fails to go to trial, no longer will the RCMP be viewed as upholders of the law -- they will be the law.